Grandma's Vegetable Soup

My grandma used to make this soup for me when I was a kid and she would tell me that if I finish them I'll grow up to be a handsome kid. Of course I was 6 so I bought the idea and would look forward to her making this soup. She wasn't really wrong, this soup is packed with nutrients and vitamins from the vegetables. She made this soup with chicken but I'm modifying it to be vegetarian recipe. If you were to add chicken into the soup, cut vegetables into larger chunks and increase the cooking time to an extra hour. Serves 5.

• 8 medium sized potatoes (cut into large chunks)
• 6 medium sized carrots (cut into large chunks)
• 8 stalks of celery (cut into 2" sticks)
• 1 medium onion (quartered)
• 2 medium sized tomatoes (quartered)
• 2 quartz of water
• Salt to taste
  
• *1 tablespoon white peppercorn (optional) [White peppercorn gives the soup a spicy kick. If you can't find them, you can just add some grind pepper before serving.]
  
• *2 pieces of skinless chicken thigh or a piece of skinless chicken breast (optional)

Add all the ingredients into a pot and let it boil on high heat. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium. Cover the pot. Let it simmer for about 3 hours, 4 hours if you add chicken. Add salt to taste.